Of Keys and Speedsters
by Willow-Bee the Cat
Summary: Unable to return home after falling through a portal at end of S7, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is not exactly normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway? DawnBart Allen.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

Authors notes: I've been planning on doing a story with a Bart/Dawn pairing for a while now, and I'm so happy that I finally managed to write it. I just love Bart. He's way more complex a character than most people give him credit for. I mean, what with the whole being raised in virtual reality thing, Bart has lived hundreds, if not thousand lives. Not to mention the fact that he is much more intelligent than most of the adults in his life give him credit for (admittedly because he doesn't really try academically most of the time).

Prologue

Dawn fought desperately against the Turok Hans, well aware that if she faultered, they would kill her. She continued moving, despite the feeling of a strange, almost painful energy running through her. Willow had completed the spell. That was the only explanation.

The energy... the energy could only be from the Key. It felt exactly the same as the energy had when the portal had been created by her blood, two years ago. Only this time, the energy was in reverse. The energy that had left two years previously was returning to her.

Dawn held back a wince as one of their weapons cut into her skin. Without missing a beat, she beheaded the creature. She felt the draw, the pull of a portal, losing consciousness as she fell to the ground.

Dawn opened her eyes slowly. She was surrounded by mist. She looked up as a figure started to appear.

"Cordy?" gasped Dawn.

"Hey there Dawn," said Cordelia. "How are you."

"Pretty sure I'm dead. You?" said Dawn, unsure of what was going on.

"I may be dead, but you are not," said Cordelia. "I was sent by the Powers to warn you."

"Warn me about what?"

"The world that you're going to, well it's very different from our world," said Cordy. "They don't forget about things they don't understand there. You'll be going to a place called Keystone City, in Kansas. You'll be in the foster care system, but you'll be able to keep your memories, your name, that sort of thing. You'll also be able to keep your powers as the Key. You need to learn to control these powers, and quickly."

Dawn stared at Cordelia. "What about..."

"The Scoobies think you are dead," said Cordelia. "And that is how it is going to remain. Too many people in that dimension knew you were the Key."

"Oh," said Dawn, slightly unsure.

"Dawn, I'm dead, and soon my body will die as well," said Cordelia. "My powers, as a seer, well, no human can handle those abilities. Even before this happened, I had planned on passing on my powers to you. You're the only person I know who would not use those powers to their own benefit. And anyway, normal humans can't handle the visions, their body gives out."

"But, I don't want those powers," said Dawn, thinking about how horrible it was with the powers she already had, let alone the powers Cordelia wanted to give her.

"I know, that's why I'm passing them on to you," said Cordy.

"But-"

"It'll be fine," said Cordy. "I've already arranged for you to have a bank account with enough money to help you with college or whatever you end up doing. In it is all the money Spike left you in his will. Oh, and don't worry about your foster family, they're good people, and when you arrive in the dimension, it'll be your first day with your foster family, so don't worry about not knowing them or anything." 


	2. Of Meetings and Questions Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers at Thank you for the review. About the whole grammar thing, I probably should have looked over the chapter again, but other than that, I'm happy with how it turned out.

katie: Thank you so much for the review.

bob-the-blue: Thank you so much review.

Allen Pitt: Thanks for the review. The Scoobies think that she died when Sunnydale collapsed.  
The Key's connection to the Speed Force... well you'll just have to wait and see.

To my reviewers at TTH:

RachelK: Spike did his will with Wolfram and Hart, the only law firm that would accomidate a vampire. It's an inter-dimentional law firm, therefore it stands to reason that they would be capable of transfering assets from one dimension to another.

Vld: Thanks for the review. Yeah, Greta was Secret, but now she's back to being a human in the comic books. As for the other stuff mentioned, well maybe.

Chapter 1

Dawn blinked. What on earth? She was in a car of some sort. Next to her was a woman in her mid-thirties. It took her a moment to realize that she was speaking.

"...the Bernsteins are a very nice family, you're very lucky that we were able to place you with them," said the woman. "They have a toddler. Just remember the conditions of your parole. If I or your parole officer finds out about any more incidents... You will be lucky if you get put in a juvenile facility this time..."

Dawn stared at her-social worker?- whatever, was talking about her having committed some sort of crime. Great. Just what she needed, a police record. What had she done to deserve this? Did the Powers That Be have something against her? First chance she got, she had to find out about what her past in this dimension was supposed to be.

They pulled up in front of an apartment building. Dawn got out of the car, grabbing both of the duffle bags in the back of the car. She had already decided that she didn't like her social worker.

They walked into the building and up two flights of stairs. The social worker knocked on the door of the 3R. A blonde woman in a dress answered the door.

"Hello Mrs. Brownson," said the woman. "It's good to see you again. Is this Dawn?"

* * *

Mrs. Berstein was nice enough, Dawn supposed. She was the quintessential house wife. She hadn't met Mr. Bernstein yet, but apparently he was a lawyer or something. Their son, Matthew, was absolutely adorable.

Dawn was rather desperate to find out her history in this dimension, and for that matter to find out what exactly she had done to deserve a parole officer.

She was to begin High School at North Keystone two days. She had every intention of going to the library the next day to hack into her records. She had to find out what was going on. And for that matter, she had to find out about history of this world.

Dawn stirred the sauce. She was helping Mrs. Bernstein cook dinner.

One of the good-well not really good, more like useful- things that came with fake memories created by monks who had been in seclusion for a millennia. She knew everything that they had believed a good wife should know: how to cook, bake, clean, sew, knit, crochet, spin, and weave.

* * *

Bart Allen was bored. He would have been at Titans Tower, but since he had a rather large paper due on Monday, Jay had insisted that he not go that weekend. He had already completed the paper, at super speed. He had decided to go to the library and see if they had any books that he had not read.

Admittedly it was not the most exciting idea ever, but Jay had expressly forbidden crime fighting until the paper was handed in. Something about how he wouldn't be able to concentrate.

There were few people in the library. Some old guy reading Shakespear, the librarian, and a brunette at one of the computers.

He wandered off to find books to read.

* * *

Dawn printed out all the records she could. With a sigh she stuffed them into her backpack. Apparently she had been abandoned in a police station with a note saying that her name was Dawn-Marie Katherine Summers when she was about three years old. They were never able to find any signs of her parents. The Bernsteins were the 18th foster family she'd been with since then.

It was amazing what one could learn if they knew how to hack into secure databases. Compared to some of the things Dawn had hacked into for the Scoobies before, this was child's play.

She couldn't help but sigh at the name. She hated the name Dawn-Marie. That was why she went by Dawn most of the time. As far as anybody outside of the Summers family back home knew, Marie was her middle name.

* * *

Bart looked up from the book he was reading at the sound of somebody cursing. It was the pretty girl at the computer. She looked rather distressed.

It took him a moment-one ten-millionth of a second actually-to realize that some of the words she was using were ones that S'Lobo had used. The only problem was that Bart knew that those words did not come from Earth.

Before he could begin to question who or what the girl was, she got up from her seat at the computer and left the library in a huff.

* * *

Assault with a deadly weapon! Ohhhhh! When she got her hands on Cordy, she was so dead.

Letting loose a rather impressive string of curses, Dawn closed the window and stormed away from the computer.


	3. Of Meetings and Questions Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers at Thank you so much for the review

katie: Thank you for another review.

Allen Pitt: What can I say? It'll serve a purpose later on. As for the Lobo thing, yup, it was a referance to the now dead de-aged Lobo.

Innana: Thank you so much for the review.

To my reviewers at TTH:

RachelK: Thank you so much for your review.

isabella: Glad somebody agrees with the criminal record thing. Thanks for the review,

Valkyrie: I know what you mean, but I needed a more mature version of Bart for this story. I tried to keep with his personality both from the current Teen Titans comics and from "Sins of Youth," when we met the adult version of Bart.

Kirallie: Thank you so much for the review.

Chapter 2

With a sigh, Dawn flopped down in her chair in the back of the classroom. In the three months Dawn had been in this dimension, she had become used to their ways... sort of.

She already knew most of what was being taught in her classes, well with the exception of math. So she used the class time to chronicle her memories from before she had been given a human body.

It was actually rather helpful. It enabled her to look back at certain incidents and try to figure out exactly how she had done whatever it was with her powers and if she could do it again. She practiced as often as possible, and now had rather good control over her powers as the Key. Admittedly there was room for improvement, but that was to be expected.

The visions... well, she had managed to stop innocents from dying and such, thanks to the visions. Other than that though, Dawn hadn't really bothered patrolling or anything. Keystone City had the Flash, Kid Flash, and that other Flash for that.

Ignoring the teacher Dawn began to write about her experiences with Etta, one of her former champions.

* * *

Bart was annoyed. Very annoyed. Admittedly, after proving that he actually knew what he was talking about, the teachers had decided that he wasn't cheating, but that wasn't the problem.

The problem was, his A.P. Calculus teacher had pressured him into tutoring one of his classmates. It had already been arranged between Jay, and the girl's guardians for her to come over to their place after school.

He leaned against the wall. Bart was supposed to walk her over there so that she didn't get lost or anything.

Apparently, except for Math, in which Miss Dawn-Marie Summers was getting a D, she was a straight A student. Not that Bart was supposed to know that.

"I-uh... hi."

Bart turned to look at the girl to his left. The girl from the library She was the girl who had been using curses from languages that as far as Earth was concerned didn't exist.

"Yeah? Dawn-Marie?"

"It's Dawn," she growled. "Never call me that in public again. Bartholomew Allen, right?"

"Bart, my friends call me Bart."

* * *

It was times like these that Bart was really grateful he'd had that growth spurt during summer break between junior and senior year. Dawn was very tall, about 5'9 or 5'10, if not for the fact that Bart was now nearly 6'6, he would have been the one looking up at her instead of the other way around.

As they talked about math (Dawn was in Sequential 3), Bart began to realize that if he looked at her the right way, the air around her glowed. It was nearly impossible to spot, unless you knew what you were looking for. Whoever or whatever Dawn Summers was, she was most definitely not a normal human.

* * *

Dawn couldn't help but notice how handsome Bart was. He was more than half a foot taller than her, unlike most guys, who were in fact shorter than she was. He had shaggy auburn hair and eyes a rather nice shade of yellow. Dawn had to admit that, like her cousin Scott, she had a thing for red heads, and Bart was one of the better specimens she'd found. He was kind of stringy, but if you actually looked you could see the underlying muscle and he was very intelligent.

For a moment Dawn wondered about the yellow eyes. In her dimension, the only humans with eyes that color were mutants or not completely human to begin with. Deciding that he was most likely a meta-human (this dimension's term for mutants), Dawn shrugged it off.

It didn't really matter too much to Dawn which side of the law Bart was on, if in fact he had chosen a side. The Key was rather ambiguous. Neither good nor evil, and Dawn didn't particularly feel like taking sides unless an innocent was about to be injured.

Although, she was somewhat frightened that Bart was a Super hero or some such. Back before she had gotten her body, Dawn had been forced to do some horrible, horrible things. That was one of the problems with being sentient but inanimate. If Bart was a Superhero, she knew that he would judge her past harshly. And for that matter, if he was one of the bad guys, he might try to use her for her powers.

* * *

Dawn couldn't help but smile. She had gotten a B+ on her first math test since Bart had been tutoring her. If she got an A on her midterm it would be perfect.

She would be applying to University of Kansas, Keystone City as soon as she took her midterm. UK-Keystone was on the same level as Fordham University. It was the best college Dawn could get into and afford. With financial age, a part-time job, and her inheritance from Spike she would be able to pay her tuition and get an apartment without getting any loans.

It did help that UK-Keystone had a very good anthropology department. Dawn had every intention of doing a double major in linguistics and anthropology.

* * *

"Ow! Let me go asshole!"

Bart paused as he walked down the hallway of the school. That voice was familiar. Even if it hadn't been he would have done something. Dawn. Somebody was messing with Dawn.

He pushed his way through the crowd, most of whom were ignoring it. The moment Bart was past his classmates, he understood why they were doing nothing. Dawn had been cornered by the quarterback, Jeff Manson, who was much larger and much stronger than most of his classmates. Not to mention the fact that several of the other players on the team were nearby.

"Let me explain it to you this way, Dawn, you are going with me to the Winter Formal," said Jeff. "And after the formal, you and I are going to have some... alone time." Jeff's hand trailed down her neck.

Bart could understand why Jeff wanted Dawn. With her unusually long dark hair, large amethyst eyes, and almost unhealthily pale skin, she was very pretty. She was tall, thin, and, in Bart's opinion at least, Dawn was very nicely curved. Ok, so her breasts weren't all that large, and Dawn always wore clothing that covered everything except her face and hands. However, Dawn was one of the prettiest girls in the school.

As Jeff's hand neared Dawn's breast, Bart acted. Moving forward he grabbed Jeff. He pulled the quarterback away from Dawn with one hand.

"I suggest you stay away from Dawn," said Bart, slamming Jeff against the lockers. "If I see you near her again... well it won't be pleasant."

Bart had no intention to fight Jeff, just threaten him. Luckily, Jeff didn't know that. Jeff looked up at Bart, who was several inches taller than him, and much more muscular.

"If she was you girl, all you needed to do was say so," stuttered Jeff.

"Mr Allen! What do you think you're doing?"

Bart turned to see Mr. Lorenson, his history teacher. The one who had first accused him of cheating in tenth grade.


	4. Of Meetings and Questions Part 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers from Thanks for the review. Yeah, I know, but I couldn't help it. In "Sins of Youth" and when they traveled to the future a couple issues ago in Teen Titans, Bart was really tall.  
I also wanted him to be at least half a foot taller than Dawn, who was portrayed as about 5'9, 5'10 in Buffy. Although he's nearly 6'6, which in my mind would put him around 6'4, 6'5.

Bats: Thanks for that. It's been ages since I read the comics and I couldn't quite remember that it was Slo-bo. Not to mention that most of my comic are back at home. Don't worry, the connection with the Speed Force does not mess with the Key thing or the pre-existing explanation of the Speed Force. Oh, and it's not the 'she's now living in a world that is a comic in her world'. Actually, if you continue to read, you'll notice the rather obvious hints that Dawn and Buffy come from the Marvel universe.

Allen Pitt: Nope, not related to the Green Lantern power source at all. Although I an thinking of writting a story like that after this one is finished.

katie: Thank you for another review.

To my reviewers at TTH:

WhiteWolf: Thank you so much for your review. You reminded me of how fiesty Dawn could be. If it wasn't for that review, you would be seeing a much weaker Dawn in Chapter 3.

RachelK: Thank you for yet another review. The shoplifting thing will be mentioned. The Key thing won't really start to come into play until after chapter 7 or 8.

Valkyrie: The assault thing will be explained in Chapter 4. Although honestly, it wasn't quite justified.

Vld: Trouble does seem to have a thing for Dawn, especially on Tuesdays. AS for Greta, alive and without powers. I'm not sure if Empress will show up. AS for Spoiler, I like her, and Leslie so would never have let her die if she hadn't been written by that hack, but Spoiler won't show in this story.

Chapter 3

Dawn shifted in her seat next to Bart. They were seated on the bench outside the principle's office waiting for their legal guardians to get there.

Seeing her Parole Officer enter with Mrs. Bernstein, Dawn paled. This was so not of the good.

"Hi, Mrs. Potter, Mrs. Bernstein," said Dawn.

Mrs. Potter gave Dawn a disappointed sigh, "What did the judge say about getting into fights?"

Bart had stiffened at the word judge, but he still jumped to her defense. "Actually, there wasn't any fighting. And Jeff and I caused the problem, not Dawn." Bart stood up, fidgeting uncomfortably. "Jeff was... touching Dawn inappropriately and nobody else was doing anything to help her, even after she demanded that Jeff get off her, so I puled Jeff away. I mean, sure, I pinned him against the lockers, but nobody hit anybody."

"Is this what happened?" asked Mrs. Potter.

Dawn nodded quickly. "Jeff was trying to get me to go with him to the Winter Formal and I told him no. When I told him no, he started to-he..." Dawn's voice trailed off. She couldn't help but think about R.J., who had treated her horribly. Despite the love spell, she had managed not to sleep with him, even though he had tried on multiple occasions to get into her pants. Dawn muttered under her breath in Russian, not knowing thatBart could understand her. "Jeff is so lucky Bart was the one who got to him first."

Mrs. Potter turned to Bart. "And you are?"

"Bart Allen, ma'am," he said.

"Dawn's math tutor," explained Mrs. Bernstein.

The door opened again and a woman Dawn recognized as Bart's Aunt Joan and an older man walked in. The man gave Bart a disappointed look.

The principle opened the door to his office. "Come in. Mr. Manson and his parents are already in my office."

* * *

Bart looked at Jay Garrick, he and his wife, Joan, were his legal guardians. He was just grateful that Wally hadn't been called.

With a sigh, he walked into Mr. Smith's office. Without a second thought he held out a chair for Dawn. Once she was seated, he sat down next to her.

"According to Mr. Manson, he was merely asking Miss Summers to the Winter Formal when Mr. Allen attacked Mr. Manson for speaking to his girlfriend."

Bart saw Jay raise an eyebrow, clearly not believing Jeff's story. Dawn had this look on her face that would have frightened Bart had it not been directed at Jeff.

"Mr. Smith, Dawn's not my girlfriend," said Bart. "And Jeff was threatening Dawn. When I pulled him off of her, Jeff had his hand on her well..."

"He had his hand on my breast," stated Dawn. "I told him I didn't want to go with him and then he grab my arm and pushed me against the lockers." She sniffled, tears threatening to fall. "I yelled at him to let go and he wouldn't." She rubbed her right wrist. "I'm pretty sure he bruised my arm." She pushed up the sleeve a little, showing a large hand shaped bruise. Bart noticed an old scar on her wrist before Dawn pulled down her sleeve.

"My husband is a lawyer with Cohen, Bernstein, and Goldberg," said Mrs. Bernstein. "I'm sure when he finds out what Mr. Manson did... Especially since my foster daughter had to be protected by one of her classmates."

Mr. Smith looked over at the Mansons. "Since nobody was hurt, I don't see any reason to hand out punishments. Mrs. Bernstein, why don't you take Miss Summers home, she has the rest of the day off. The same for you Mr. Allen." As Jeff moved to stand up, Mr. Smith said, "Sit back down Mr. Manson, we need to have a talk about appropriate behavior and how this behavior effects football games."

After they left the office, Bart turned to Dawn. "Are you still coming for tutoring or...?"

"I'll come by on Monday," said Dawn, who's tears were completely gone.

It was then that Bart realized that those tears had been fake. Dawn was a rather convincing actress.

* * *

The moment they returned to the house, Jay took Bart to the side. Bart instantly knew that he wanted to know about the glow surrounding Dawn. The strange glow which changed in color depending upon her mood.

"Why didn't you-"

Bart shrugged. "It wasn't all that important. I mean Dawn isn't doing anything wrong. At least I don't think she is," he said remembering the mention of a judge. He would have to ask Tim to find out what had happened.

Jay sighed. "Alright, but if anything happens."

"I'll take her out myself," said Bart.

"Don't the swirls of green and white energy get distracting after a while?"

Bart shrugged. "The color changes depending upon her mood. Green is fear and white is anger. Most of the time the glow is pink and purple."

* * *

Bart sat down across from of his best friends, Tim Drake, better known as Robin. He was in Titan's Tower, like he was on most weekends.

"Can you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"I need a background check on somebody," explained Bart. "Her name is Dawn-Marie Summers..."


	5. Of Questions Unanswered Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers at Pitt: Trust me, Dawn will be pissed about the background check. As for the Summers thing,  
well more will be revealed later on.

Faith: Thanks for the review.

To my reviewers at TTH:

RachelK: The importance of the glow will come into play later on in the story. Thank you so much for your review.

Valkyrie: Thanks for the review.

Vld: Bart's actions were pretty much not of the good.

Chapter 4

Connor Reilly-uh... Connor Angel... He wasn't really sure who he was in actuality. Not anymore. He had killed Sahjhan, just like the prophecy had said he would.

Part of him wished desperately that the dream-like memories of being Connor Angel were just that, just a dream. But it wasn't.

He had very few happy memories of his previous life. Most of those memories were of his sister. In actuality she wasn't really his sister.

She had stayed with them for one summer. The summer after her older sister died, if Connor remembered correctly. Dawn Summers was technically speaking part of his clan, part of the Line of Aurilious. She had been adopted into the clan by Spike at Drusilla's request. Spike considered her to be his daughter.

He cleared his throat, catching the attention of the other person in the room. "Uh... Spike, can you tell me where Dawn is? I need to speak to her."

* * *

Bart looked through the folder Tim had given him. Eighteen different foster homes? Apparently several of them had been abusive, and then when she had been placed in better homes, the foster parents had been bothered by her defense techniques, mainly refusing to speak and unsurprisingly learning how to defend herself in various martial arts classes. That had caused the foster parents to ask for Dawn to be placed elsewhere.

Her medical files were... horrifying to say the least. All the injuries she had been given over the years had resulted quite a bit of scars over various parts of her body. That at least explained why she let very little of her skin show, Dawn obviously didn't want people to stare at her scars.

One look at the police report led Bart to the conclusion that the judge was an idiot. A boy in a restaurant two years earlier had been rough housing with a friend. When said friend had moved in an unexpected way, the boy's fist had come toward Dawn's face. Dawn had apparently acted on instinct, attacking the boy, using the knife she had been eating with. By the time Dawn had come back to her senses, the boy had a large slash down his chest, three fractured ribs, a broken arm.

Considering Dawn's history, her reaction was not surprising. She had merely been protecting herself from the perceived threat. He could have understood being sent to counseling, but sending her to a Juvenile Detention facility for two years was far too much.

The only criminal thing Dawn had ever really done was shoplifting back when she was in Jr. High. She had returned or repaid all of the stores she had stolen from. The shoplifting had stopped before she had begun eighth grade.

* * *

"What do you mean Dawn's dead!" demanded Connor.

"She got taken down by a Turok Han when Xander's back was turned," explained Spike. "By the time they realized Dawn was dead, they were already out of Sunnyhell."

"You didn't find her body then," said Connor. "She could have fallen through a portal. It was a Hellmouth after all."

"The niblet wasn't the Key anymore," Spike said. "If she had been, she could have fallen through a portal. But Dawn lost those powers two and a half years ago."

* * *

Dawn looked around near the entrance of the school for Bart. They always met just outside the school. Bart generally walked her to his house, and after tutoring walked her back to her apartment building.

Feeling a headache coming on, Dawn sighed in annoyance.

That sigh turned to a gasp of pain as Dawn realized the headache was a precursor of a vision. Losing herself in the images and pain, Dawn didn't feel herself fall.

* * *

"I need to know what happened during the battle Wells."

"I-I"

"Somebody collected Dawn's inheritance from Spike," said Connor. "I need to know what happened. Dawn might still be alive."

* * *

Author's note: Do you guys think it should be Connor/Greta or Connor/Cissie? 


	6. Of Questions Unanswered Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers at Pitt: As you can see, it was more of a thing that wasn't supposed to happen, but would have if not for Dawn's vision. Please tell me whether you prefer Cissie or Greta. I'm in the middle of writting chapter 12 and I need to know which to pick.

katie: Thank you for your review.

To my reviewers at TTH:

Vld: Most of the time the American system isn't so bad, but the judge overreacted to what happened. Not to mention that if Dawn hadn't been so careful, she could have easily killed the boy. And let's just say that her court appointed attorney was crappy.

Valkyrie: I know, I have trouble calling her Greta too, but that is her name. I don't think she'll have powers in this story. MAybe in another story I write.

Chapter 5

Seeing Dawn collapse, Bart ran over at a speed, that while a little fast for a human was still within normal parameters. He managed to catch her just before she hit the ground.

He held Dawn in his arms, sitting on the concrete. One arm underneath her legs, the other around her back. Bart watched the figure on his lap wince in pain, the glow around her green and yellow. Bart had never seen the glow yellow before and could only assume it was related to pain in some way.

After an excruciatingly long minute and a half which felt like an hour to Bart, Dawn stilled, her breathing returning to normal. The glow lost the yellow, gaining the normal pink. A tint of green remained around the edges.

"Are you ok?" Bart asked as Dawn opened her eyes. A dozen possible medical conditions with these symptoms running through his head.

"I think so," Dawn said weakly.

Bart stood up, Dawn still in his arms. "Do you want me to take you to a hospital?"

"No, no. It's ok," said Dawn. "I just forgot to eat lunch. I'm sure that as soon as I eat something I'll be much better."

He knew that it was highly improbable that her fainting spell was caused by forgetting to eat lunch. Dawn had been in too much pain. Bart put Dawn down gently, making sure that she was capable of standing on her own before letting go, his hand still on her arm.

"Come on, I'm sure Aunt Joan will be more than happy to feed you," said Bart.

"I-I can't I have to go home," said Dawn, looking very worried, the glow around her green and pink with a hint of white.

Bart gave her a look that said quite clearly that he didn't believe her. "Your foster mother would have called Uncle Jay if anything had come up. You always spend two hours at our place on Mondays."

"I need to go," Dawn insisted, nearly in tears. "I have to find him!"

"Find who?" asked Bart.

"It doesn't matter," said Dawn. "If I don't something really bad will happen."

"What is going on Dawnie?"

"They're going to die if I don't warn him." A tear fell from her left eye.

"Who will die?"

"He's going to kill the babies," she gasped. "Oh goddess. Please Bart! Please I need to warn the Flash before he kills the babies."

"Who is going to kill the babies and how can the Flash help?" demanded Bart. The thought of a child being murdered making him more forceful with Dawn.

"Two babies, a couple months younger than Matthew. A boy and a girl," said Dawn, tears still falling from her eyes. "They were with that woman, the reporter, Linda something. A girl with red hair and a boy with brown hair. A man with boomerangs attacked them. Oh goddess it was so horrible. Thei-their bodies a-and the boomerangs and the blood... oh goddess..."

As the tears fell down Dawn's face, she looked physically ill at the thought of what she was describing.

"How do you know this?" Fear gripped Bart. He knew exactly who Dawn was talking about. She was speaking about Linda Park, his cousin Wally's wife, and their children, Iris and Barry.

To distraught to think about the consequences, Dawn said, "I saw it. I had another vision."

"Another vision?"

"I'm a seer," said Dawn. "Sometimes I see thing before they happen. I get a couple visions a month. I didn't really faint, I had a vision. Now please, let me go! I need to find the Flash."

"I'll find the Flash," said Bart, unsure as to why he believed Dawn, other than the fact that she had no reason to lie. "I need you to go to my place. Tell Aunt Joan that I'll be back in a little bit."

"But-"

"I will find the Flash and warn him about Captain Boomerang, ok?"

Dawn sighed, brushing away some tears. "Can you really find the Flash?"

"Yes. Yes I can," Bart said gently.

Dawn blew her nose in a tissue. "Alright, I'll go."

As soon as Dawn turned to go to his place, Bart ran off, changing into his Kid Flash uniform at the first possible moment.

* * *

Connor walked out of JFK, grateful that most of the weapons Angel had given him had charms on them that kept technology from sensing or seeing them. He would rather not go anywhere unarmed.

He needed to find Steven Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. Hopefully he would have answers about Dawn or something that could lead him to Dawn.

* * *

Dawn sat at the counter of the Garrick home, worried sick. Could Bart really find the Flash. After all, the Flash was not the easiest person to find.

She knew that Bart was probably a meta of some sort. Maybe he was a villain or a cape. Her eyes widened as a thought entered her head.

Bart couldn't be... could he? What were the odds of her math tutor being... no, he couldn't, it wasn't possible.

Then again, considering her luck with men. After all, the first guy she'd ever kissed was a vampire, she'd been kidnaped by a singing demon who tried to make her his child bride, and her last boyfriend had used a love spell on her.

Although that just made it much more likely that Bart was a villain, but... he just didn't seem like one of the bad guys.

* * *

Well, Connor/Greta or Connor/Cissie?

Greta: 1

Cissie: 0


	7. Of Questions Unanswered Part 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers at ff dot net

Allen Pitt: Thanks for the review, glad somebody agrees with me about how current Marvel sucks.  
With the Dawn thing, think about this: Dawn was made from Buffy's blood, but in a lot of cultures that would mean that she was made from Buff's family. Also, factor in the clues I gave with Dawn's appearance.

red lighting: Thank you so much for your review.

Inanna: Thanks for the vote. The thing is, I haven't really been paying attention to Aquaman and Mia just raises too many issues that I'd rather not deal with or get flamed for.

me: Thank you for your review. Actually, I'm in the middle of writting chapter 12

Panda-kun: Thanks for the review. I love Cissie too, actually, I'm thinking of doing a story after this with her in it... but that won't be for a month or two.

Mae: Thank you for your review.

To my reviewers at TTH:

Cero: Thank you so much for your review.

Valkyrie: Thanks for yet another review. Yes, you can vote more than once.

Vld: I can see your point there.

Chapter 6

Bart changed before walking back into the house. It had been several hours since Dawn had told him of her vision. He shuddered to think what would have happened had he not been warned.

It had taken a little bit to convince Wally that Linda and the twins were in danger. Had it not involved their family, Bart was sure that it would have been much harder to convince Wally.

Once they had found Linda, everything had seemed fine. If not for Bart's insistence, he was sure Wally would have left. Captain Boomerang had shown up with Captain Cold. Apparently they had already planned a heist of some sort, and had started to attack the crowd before they realized that the Flash and Kid Flash were there.

Bart winced as he walked. The battle had been particularly fierce, most likely due the Wally being worried about Linda, Iris, and Barry. The injuries he had received were already healing, and would probably be gone before he entered the kitchen.

He heard a the scrape of a chair in the kitchen. Dawn practically ran into the room. Her skin was paler than normal and the glow around her was green and pink with no traces of white.

"Captain Boomerang and Captain Cold were captured before they caused any serious injuries," said Bart, watching as the green glow changed to purple. "Why don't we go up to my room and talk about... well, you know."

A hint of green crept back into her aura as she nodded. Dawn followed Bart up the stairs. In the three weeks Bart had been tutoring Dawn, they had not gone anywhere near his room.

* * *

"The Destroyer. I'm not sure whether to be frightened or flattered." 

Connor gave Dr. Strange a look. "I need your help."

"What with?" Dr. Strange asked cautiously.

"My sister fell through a dimensional portal when Sunnydale was destroyed. I need to find her. I need to make sure she's ok," explained Connor. "If anything were to happen to her... I could never forgive myself."

Dr. Strange's expression changed. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

"I-I've had the visions for a couple months," said Dawn. "I can't really control when I get them, and while I'm having the vision, the pain is... excruciating." 

"Where do the visions come from?" asked Bart.

"I'm not sure," shrugged Dawn. "They're magical in origin, of that much I'm sure. I wasn't born with the visions. Somebody that I've know since I was ten passed the visions on to me when she died. I know that the powers had been passed on to her by this half Braken-half human guy she used to work with when he died. That guy inherited the powers from a Braken demon when he died."

"What do the visions show you?"

"Things I need to find some way to prevent from happening. Clues about demons and such that are attacking innocents in the local area. People that need to be protected. Generally they're vague images that rarely make sense at first." Dawn twirled a piece of hair around her finger. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Bart asked defensively.

"I know you have powers of some sort," said Dawn. "It's kinda obvious. You're either Kid Flash or a criminal of some sort."

"Criminal!"

"What? I have really bad luck with men." Dawn sighed. "I'm assuming this means you're Kid Flash. You were too upset about the comparison to a villain to not be."

"I-"

"I should go," said Dawn. "I need to ask for a new math tutor. Don't worry, I won't tell anybody about your powers or anything."

Bart stared as Dawn moved to leave. For a moment he was too shocked to move. She had solved his secret identity far too easily. Jay and Wally were going to kill him.

"Wait, don't leave," said Bart. Unable to think of anything better to say, he said, "Have you ever considered joining the Teen Titans. I'm sure they'd be willing to help you with your powers."

"Thanks, but no thanks," said Dawn. "I've never been much of a team player. And anyway, the visions can't be controlled. I don't take sides. My powers come from chaos. I doubt that your teammates will approve of me."

Bart knew that most of the time Chaos corrupted people. He also knew that Chaos was needed. Without it... well the world wouldn't be a very nice place. It kept order in check. "Powers?"

Dawn paled, the glow turning almost completely green. "I-I wasn't always human."

"What did you used to be?"

"I can't tell you. It'll only put you in danger."

Bart looked at Dawn. "It has to do with the glow around you, doesn't it?"

Dawn flopped down onto his baseball bean bag, having lost all strength in her legs. Her skin became even paler and the glow became completely green. She put her head in her hands. "How can you see that? You shouldn't be able to."

"Why shouldn't I be able to see it?"

Dawn looked up at him. "It doesn't matter, not really."

* * *

Connor/Greta or Connor/Cissie 

Greta: 4

Cissie: 1


	8. Of Checkers and Smoochies Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers at ff dot net:

Allen Pitt: You'd be surprised how much suspision can be caused by things not readily explained away by science. As for the Dr. Strange, Connor thing, think about it. The Destroyer had several rather gruesome prophesies about him.

Mae: I must say that your review is the most enthusiastic one I have ever received.

katie: Thank you for yet another review.

To my reviewers at TTH:

WhiteWolf: Your guess is the closest one yet. Think about this: only those out of touch with reality can see the Key for what it really is.

Valkyrie: Bart isn't offering for Dawn to join the Titans, he's offering for them to help her learn to control her powers. As for the brother thing, Connor isn't really her brother, he just considers Dawn to be the younger sister he never had.

RachelK: Thank you so much for your review. I totally understand about the not always leaving a review thing, I do that all the time.

Vld: I'm not sure that Greta will have any powers if she shows up. HOnestly, at this point in time, I think Connor is looking for a nice human girl who can defend herself if worse comes to worse and who understands the type of life he leads.

Chapter 7

"Are you sure?" Connor was disappointed to say the least.

"I can't track which dimension your sister fell into," said Dr. Strange. "There was too much magic in the area at the time. It completely blocks the magical signature of the portal. You should go to the Fantastic Four. I think Mr. Richards can help you. I'll get you an appointment. If you need any help convincing him, call me."

"Alright."

* * *

Dawn walked outside the school building. She and Bart hadn't really settled anything the afternoon before. Although he had given up asking her about the whole not quite human thing.

She looked around for Bart, unsure if he would be waiting for her as per usual. She wasn't sure if he was still willing to tutor her. If not, Dawn was pretty sure she would fail math and never be able to attend UK-Keystone and then she would receive a sub-par education, and then she would end up in increasingly horrible jobs, eventually resulting death by a disease that was easily, but expensively treated because her health plan didn't cover it. Admittedly that was a little-alright very extreme worst case scenario, but Dawn was frightened that it would happen.

Seeing Bart walk toward her, Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully Bart was willing to talk to her. Maybe even willing to continue tutoring her, although she doubted that.

* * *

Bart had done a lot of thinking after Dawn had gone home. Dawn had been genuinely upset at the thought of a child being hurt.

He had checked with Dr. Fate, although there had been chaos magic used in the general area of Keystone City, nobody had been harmed or attacked. According to Dr. Fate the magic was relatively harmless.

Dawn was very nice, if a little cynical and short tempered at times. Bart had seen her defend those in lower grades from bullies and teasing on several occasions. She had done nothing but protect herself and others.

He had come to the decision that unless Dawn did something which suggested otherwise, he would consider her to be one of the good guys.

"Uh... hi," said Dawn, biting her lip nervously.

"So what did you cover in math today?" asked Bart.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Dawn began to explain as they walked toward Bart's home.

* * *

Reed Richards studied the young man in front of him. "Dr. Strange didn't explain why he sent you to me."

"My sister fell through a dimensional portal when Sunnydale was destroyed," said Connor. "Dr. Strange said that there was too much magical interference to track where the portal went to."

"I'm sure that somebody on the Avengers would be able to help-"

"Dawn is barely seventeen years old," said Connor. "Her powers aren't useful, in a defensive or offensive way. What if she ends up in a dimension where mutants were treated worse than they are here."

Reed could understand Mr. Reilly's fear. "I'll do what I can to help."

* * *

Dawn brushed a stand of her long hair out of her face, considering her next move. They had finished studying and doing their homework half an hour earlier. Since Bart had invited Dawn to stay for dinner, they had nothing better to do but play checkers until it was time to eat.

They were sitting on the floor, a checkers board between them. She moved a piece cautiously, taking two of Bart's pieces. Before her she put his two pieces down in front of her, Bart's hand moved. She starred at the board, his hand had moved so fast that Dawn had only seen the after image.

What? How? Bart had taken all of her pieces. Dawn gapped at the board and then looked up at the grinning face of her friend. She glared at him.

"You cheated," Dawn accused Bart half seriously.

"No, I didn't," said Bart, still grinning.

"Using your powers is cheating," insisted Dawn. "I didn't use my powers."

"Would your powers have been useful?"

"Well no, but that's beside the point," said Dawn. "The point is, you cheated."

"Did not."

"Did to."

"Did not."

"Did to."

"Did n–"

Dawn tackled Bart, tickling him. "Did to!"

"Did not," laughed Bart as he flipped them over and began to tickle Dawn.

"Y-you did," laughed Dawn.

They rolled over again. "No, I didn't."

"Yes, you-" They rolled again, Bart once more on top.

Dawn looked up at Bart, who had stopped tickling her. His legs were entangled with her own. He leaned over her, his upper body supported by his forearms. His face was... Oh goddess his face was less than half a foot from her own.

Bart leaned forward. Dawn's eyes widened.

Her really cute crime fighting math tutor was going to kiss her. It was Tuesday wasn't it. Oh wait, it was Tuesday.

Their lips met. Dawn's eyes closed, waiting for Bart to deepen the kiss. As quickly as it started, it was over. Bart pulled away, sitting up.

"I'm sorry," said Bart, looking very guilty. "I shouldn't have-"

Dawn stared at Bart. Sitting up, Dawn asked him. "What do you have some Superhero girlfriend or something?"

"I-What?" Bart looked confused. "No. I'm single."

"Then what the problem?" asked Dawn, wondering if it was something that she had done.

"I just-I thought that you're not-"

"Oh honestly," said Dawn.

She leaned over, kissing Bart. For a moment he did nothing, as if he was shocked, then he started to respond. Before Dawn knew what was happening, their kiss had deepened, Bart's arms wrapping around her.

Somebody cleared their throat. Dawn and Bart pulled away, Dawn turning bright red. They turned to see Bart's Uncle Jay.

"Dinner's ready," said Jay, an amused look on his face. He turned and walked back into the kitchen.

"Well that was..."

"Yeah," said Bart. "Let's go get food."

"Ok," Dawn said, unusually meek.

They stood up. As Dawn moved to enter the kitchen, Bart grabbed her around the waist and spun her to face him. Bending over a little, Bart kissed Dawn.

Dawn was still catching her breath when she walked into the kitchen. Bart was a much better kisser than she had thought he would be.

* * *

Connor/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Greta: 5

Cissie: 1


	9. Of Checkers and Smoochies Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers at ff dot net:

Allen Pitt: I really wanted Dawn to be a Slayer, it would have made sense. I don't like her all helpless and stuff. She does have other powers, she just doesn't want to mention them because they will put Bart and everybody around them in danger.

Mae: I must say that for some reason your review made me feel less like castrating this really annoying guy that I know. Thank you so much.

Chapter 8

Dawn put her books into her locker and grabbing several textbooks. She couldn't help but wish that she had stayed longer. She hadn't had a chance to speak to Bart about the whole kiss thing and had no idea where they stood. Unfortunately she'd had to leave right after dinner was finished because Mr. and Mrs. Bernstein had wanted to go out to dinner and had needed her to babysit Matthew.

She turned and stopped short. Bart was standing next to her. They didn't see each other very often at school, mostly because of how different their schedules.

He looked nervous, much more nervous than Dawn had ever seen the generally carefree boy before. Dawn bit her lip nervously.

"I-uh... hi," said Bart.

"Hi," said Dawn. She'd always been rather nervous about men that she thought of in a romantic sense. Bart had just been a friend before. Believing that he would never go out with anybody such as her, she hadn't really been all that nervous. Now that Bart had kissed her, Dawn was rather nervous.

"Uh... DoyouwanttogowithmeoutonFriday?"

It took Dawn a moment to figure out what Bart had said. Her eyes widened. Bart was asking her out! Ok, so they had kissed, but still, it wasn't the same thing as being asked out on a date. "I-Of course! I'd love to."

Bart visibly breathed a sigh of relief. "How about we go get some food and then go to a movie or something after tutoring."

"Alright," said Dawn shyly.

"I'll see you after school," said Bart.

Before dawn had a chance to reply, Bart kissed her soundly.

"I-uh...bye," said Dawn as Bart walked off to class.

* * *

Dawn sighed as she walked into the Bernstein's apartment. Tutoring her been rather interesting. In between studying, they had flirted shamelessly.

Wait-What was she going to wear? She had very little clothing, mostly because she had been in homes that apparently only bought her new clothing when she outgrew her old. For a moment Dawn wondered if she could afford a new outfit. Maybe if she went to a thrift store or the Salvation army...

That could actually work. Dawn dropped her bag in her room and then went to find Mrs. Bernstein. She would want to know where Dawn was.

She found Mrs. Bernstein in the kitchen. "Hi."

"Oh, hello dear," said Mrs. Bernstein. "How did tutoring go today?"

"Pretty well," said Dawn. "Do you need me to help make dinner or something?"

"No, we're having leftovers. Why do you ask?"

"I... uh, I wanted to go shopping. I think there's a Salvation Army nearby."

Mrs. Bernstein looked surprised. "Why do you want new clothing?"

Dawn bit her lip. "I have a date on Friday and I don't have anything nice enough to wear. I just wanted to get a skirt and a sweater. And maybe a pair of shoes."

"Who are you going out with?" Mrs. Bernstein looked a little concerned.

Dawn knew that concern was because apparently in this dimension she had gotten into several abusive relationships before her stint in Juvie. She had no doubt that Mrs. Brownson had warned Mrs. Bernstein about her tendency to date total slimeballs.

"Bart Allen, my math tutor," explained Dawn. "He asked me to go out with him after our tutoring session on Friday. Dinner and a movie."

"That boy who threatened that football player who was trying to feel you up?"

"Yep, that boy," said Dawn.

"Are you sure that you want to go out with him?"

"Yeah, I am," said Dawn, thinking for a moment about the Superhero she had a thing for.

While she herself was not a cape, most of her non-evil cousins were. It did sort of make sense that she would go out with one. Although how she ended up in the hometown of this cape... well now that she thought about it, Cordy probably planned it. After all somebody would need to be able to defend the Key if worse came to worse and who better than a cape who would be morally obligated to help her.

"He's the nicest guy who's ever asked me out," continued Dawn. "Heck, he's nicest guy who's ever kissed me."

Mrs. Bernstein gave her a surprised look. "You two kissed?"

"Yesterday," explained Dawn. "And today... so, can I go to the Salvation Army?"

"Ok," said Mrs. Bernstein. "But I want you back by dinner. And if Bart does anything to you..."

"If he does anything," said Dawn. "I'll kick him in the balls, break it off with him, and find a new math tutor."

She doubted that she would stand a chance against Bart. She was good enough at fighting to take out a human, and well, most types of demons, but super speed, that was something she couldn't really fight. He didn't seem like the abusive type, and if worse came to worse, she could always go and tell the other capes. They wouldn't stand for that type of behavior.

* * *

"Well Mr. Richards?"

"Once I build the machine, I need to calibrate it to the dimension you sister fell into. That, unfortunately, could take several months."

* * *

Author's note: It's been decided. Greta/COnnor won. 


	10. Of Teammates and Suspisions Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, Connor/Greta

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

AN: FOr my next story I'm thinking of doing a Fullmetal Alchemist/BtVS? x-over. What do you think? I'm conisdering Anita Blake, Marvel, or DC. I'm not sure which to decide on.

To my reviewers at ff dot net:

Theory: Greta is without powers... I think.

Mae: Yup, kicking guys there is a lot of fun. There will be more Connor by Chapter 20 or so. Probably sooner. Greta is an amazing character. Personally, I would suggest reading YOung Justice: Sins of Youth. Although that trade paperback cost about $20.

the Iron Chef: They didn't meet in the series. I just decided that they met the summer after the whole Glory thing. I think I mentioned that in the story, not sure though.

Chapter 9

Dawn looked at herself in the mirror before leaving the bathroom, satisfied with her appearance. The dress she had bought for $5 was very pretty and perfect for late November.

Deciding not to chance ruining the dress at school, Dawn had changed into after school. Dawn looked at her watch. She still had two minutes before she was supposed to meet Bart outside.

* * *

Bart leaned against the wall just inside the school. It had snowed the night before and it was too cold to meet outside.

He was nervous, far too nervous, but he couldn't move. If he did, he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to stop. He didn't have all that much experience with girls. He had kissed Carol once or twice, but it hadn't amounted to much more than that.

He'd dated a girl last year, but she hadn't been able to deal with his unexplained absences and how he was always away during the weekends, both of which were due to his crime fighting. He couldn't just leave people to die, and for that matter, he couldn't abandon some of the few friends he had. Every weekend, except for when he was grounded was spent with the Titans, his teammates and best friends since he had first come to this time from the thirtieth century.

Dawn was different. She was like him... sort of. Dawn was involved in his world, both of them. Ok, so she didn't run around in spandex, but she was still familiar with crime fighting and such. Hopefully she would understand about his obligations.

He looked up as Dawn walked over to him. She wore a rather pretty maroon dress. It had bell sleeves and a long flowing skirt. There was a black bodice with matching maroon embroidery and on her feet were black boots.

He stared for a moment, unable to form a sentence. She was very... he couldn't even describe how good she looked. After a second he realized that it was the first time he had ever seen her wear a skirt.

Dawn and Bart walked out of the pizza parlor.

"So what movie?"

Dawn shrugged. "They're showing Spaceballs in the theater a couple blocks east of here. At eight, I think."

"Cool," said Bart. It was one of his favorite movies. "Let's do th-"

Bart's voice was cut off by the sounds of screams. He looked in the general direction of the screaming and then back at Dawn.

* * *

Dawn recognized the look on his face. The please-don't-be-angry-but-I-have-to-go-rescue-people-now.

Dawn smiled at Bart. Standing on her tippytoes, she gave him a quick kiss. "Go save the day. Drop me off near the edge, I'll see what I can do about crowd control."

He gave her a kiss and a smile. The next thing Dawn knew, they were just outside what looked like it would soon be a stampede. Bart put Dawn down, taking one last look at her before running off to stop whatever was causing this.

Dawn made her way through the panicking crowd quite easily. She'd faced worse back home in Sunnyhell.

She picked people up when they fell, and knowing that they probably wouldn't remember her, created portals that took the injured to the nearest hospitals. She had gotten good enough with her powers that she could be up to a hundred feet away from where she was creating the portal. Even after creating several dozen, Dawn hadn't even lost her breath. Ok, so chronal and temporal portals took more out of her, but still...

Making her way toward what everybody was running from, Dawn couldn't help but wonder what was frightening these people so much. She nearly stopped short upon seeing what was happening.

How the hell did a Hydra end up in north-eastern Kansas?

When she glanced back, the Hydra was being tied up by a yellow and red blur. Thank the goddess Bart had decided not to cut off its head. That would had been unpleasant, especially when the hydra grew more heads.

Once most of the crowd was gone, Dawn walked over and leaned against a wall about fifty feet from Bart and the hod tied and muzzled beast.

Dawn couldn't help but gasp as Bart, in his Kid Flash uniform, appeared right in front of her. He winked at her, causing Dawn to blush and giggle.

"Miss," he said. " Do you have a cell phone I could borrow?"

"Of course, kind sir," said Dawn, fishing out the cell phone Mrs. Bernstein had told her to bring with her just in case. "How could I refuse such a request?"

"Thanks," he said, dialing a number quickly. "Hi? This is Kid Flash... I need to speak to Wondergirl... There's a hydra in Keystone City. Tied up at 1st and Clementine... Yes I said Hydra... I just thought you'd want to let it go somewhere out in the wild in Greece or something...I'll see you then."

Bart hung up the phone and walked over to Dawn. Handing the phone back to Dawn, he took her right hand and kissed the inside of her wrist, not even looking at the scar. Dawn felt herself blush again.

* * *

Bart waited patiently for his teammate to arrive, well patiently for him at least. Wondergirl had agreed to take the hydra to... he wasn't sure where.

Dawn was leaning against a wall, waiting for him. He'd seen the portals of purple and white mist with green electricity running through them. The portals had taken the injured to... well Bart really wasn't sure where. Whatever the portals did, they were definitely related to Dawn's glow, of that much he was sure.

The glow around Dawn was currently the normal pink and purple, a hint of scarlet could be seen around the edge. The glow had scarlet in it every time Bart was near her since they had kissed on Tuesday. When they were kissing, the glow became almost completely scarlet.

He raised an eyebrow as Wondergirl materialized. Apparently she was using the JLA teleporter.

"You hog tied the hydra!"

"What, could you think of anything better?" Bart said defensively.

"Good point," said Wondergirl. "Do you want to help-"

"Can't," said Bart. "I kinda alreadyhavesomethingtodo."

Cassie gave him a not quite believing look, and then shrugged. "See you tomorrow then."

* * *

"So, where did you send the injured anyway?" asked Bart as he walked Dawn home after the movie.

"The hospital," said Dawn, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "You saw that?"

"Yup."


	11. Of Teammates and Suspisions Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, Connor/Greta

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers at ff dot net:

Allen Pitt: I am so going to do a story with AB in it after I finish this story. DAwn/Shang-Da Dawn/Jason or Dawn/Some other were?

aliaswolf: Thank you so much for your review.

Author's Note: Alright guys, I've pretty much decided this story will be about 30 chapters or so After this I'm going to do a BtVS/Anita Blake/Marvel x-over. Who in the Anita-verse should I pair Dawn with? Shang-Da, Jason, or somebody else?

Chapter 10

Bart sat down between Wondergirl and Speedy. Both girls were watching uh... he wasn't really sure what they were watching. There was some princess named Buttercup and a... dread pirate something or another.

Robin, Raven, Beastboy, Cyborg, and Superboy were playing some sort of card game, Bart hadn't looked close enough to see what it was.

"Who was that girl?"

Bart turned and looked at Wondergirl. "Huh?"

"That girl you were with in Keystone City," said Wondergirl, who now had the attention of everybody in the room. "The brunette with the really long hair in the dark red dress."

"What brunette?" asked Superboy.

"Uh... well, you see..." stuttered Bart, unsure of what to say.

"Whoa, since when do you have a girlfriend? " demanded Beastboy.

"Dawn's not my girlfriend " Bart said. "Well... at least I don't think she is. I mean we only went out on one date." Bart scratched the back of head. "Although made out a couple times before then. And I'm seeing her again on Monday..." He shrugged. "I was kinda thinking of asking her to the Winter Formal."

Robin gave him a look. "Dawn? I thought you thought she was a criminal."

"I thought she might be a criminal," clarified Bart. "But she's not. And it's not like I meant to ask Dawn out. One minute we were playing checkers and the next I knew we were making out. Imeanshe'sreallyprettyandreallyniceandIlikeheralotandshedoesn'tcarethatI'masuperheroandshecanprotect herselfifsheneedsto."

"She knows your secret identity? " exclaimed Robin.

"Dawn figured it out on her own," said Bart, looking somewhat dejected. "And I am so dead when well, my cousin and my legal guardian find out. But Dawn's not going to say anything to anybody."

"You didn't deny it?" Robin sounded even more outraged.

"What was I supposed to say to her? " demanded Bart, standing up. "I couldn't deny it without feeling guilty. I've known she had powers since the first day I met her. I couldn't lie to her. I just... I couldn't."

"She's a meta?"

"Magic user, actually," explained Bart. "I can't say anymore than that. I mean, she's not telling people about my powers, I shouldn't tell you guys about her's."

"Wait. Is her name Dawn Summers?" asked Raven.

"Uh, yeah. How did you know?" asked Bart.

"She's the local Champion for Keystone City and Central City," explained Raven. "No wonder she doesn't care about you being a cape, she's the magical equivalent."

"Makes sense," shrugged Bart, knowing exactly what a Champion was.

Well that explained why Dr. Fate had told him to not get in the way. That added a whole new dimension to the information Robin had found on Dawn. Her assault charge made so much more sense. She lived in a battle zone, she had reacted in a way that was indicative of a number of ways that many fighters such as those in the military might have.

* * *

Dawn sighed. Admittedly, it was a month away, but she and Bart were dating. If they were still dating by then, what on Earth would she get him for Christmas?

Dawn winced in pain. She was familiar enough with the sensation by now to know that a vision would begin within the next couple of moments.

* * *

"He thinks Dawn is still alive."

Amanda looked up at Andrew. Next to her were Kit and Carlos.

"Well if Dawn is alive, we need to find her," said Kit. "She'd do the same for us."

"Who is Connor anyway?" asked Amanda.

Kit shrugged. "If I remember correctly Dawn's slightly psychotic older brother."

"What about the rest of her family?" asked Andrew. "Aren't her cousins mutants or something? Maybe they know somebody who could help us find Dawn."

"No," said Carlos. "They'll think we're insane. And even if they don't, Dawn has a lot of really powerful enemies. We can't let her enemies find out that she's still alive."

"Mmm, I agree with Carlos," said Amanda. "Maybe we should help Connor. He is her older brother after all."


	12. Of Teammates and Suspisions Part 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, Connor/Greta

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

To my reviewers at ff dot net:

Allen Pitt: Thanks for the review. If I ever get around to writing the story, it'll probably be Dawn/Jason. I just love that pairing.

Mae: Thank you so much for the review. Although you did make me miss having a TV (damn I miss watching the Simpsons).

Chapter 11

Dawn limped over to her locker. It had been a tough weekend for her. She had barely managed to stop yet another apocalypse.

Several fractured ribs. A sprained ankle. She had taken care of her injuries herself. The last thing she needed was for Mrs. Bernstein to accuse Bart of something he didn't do. She'd heal soon enough. She had always healed about four or five times faster than a Slayer. Most of the injuries caused by magical weapons and magical creatures left scars. The scar from her suicide attempt when she was thirteen was the only one that did not come from a magical object of some sort.

An arm snaked around her waist.

"Ow " winced Dawn.

She looked up to see Jeff Manson, the most annoying football player ever, at least in her opinion. She hadn't seen him much in the past week, but apparently his conversation with the principle had only gone so far.

"Let me go, Jeff " said Dawn, trying to get out of his arms without injuring herself further.

"I don't think so, Dawn," he growled. "Allen isn't here to protect you. Even if he was, your not his girlfriend. As far as I'm concerned, that means you're up for grabs."

Dawn would have fought back more, but she knew that if she did, she could hurt her ribs more. The last thing she needed was for one of her ribs to break completely and puncture something. The best she could hope for was a clean shot at kicking him in the balls, which would hopefully hurt him enough for him to let go.

"Get your hands off my girlfriend "

Dawn breathed a sigh of relief as Jeff was pulled off of her. She watched mutely as Bart punched Jeff in the gut. Bart was either much stronger than he looked or Jeff was weaker than he looked. Then again, it could be a combination of the both. Although Dawn knew that Bart could have punched Jeff much harder.

In an instant Bart was by Dawn's side. "Are you ok, Dawnie-Marie?"

"I'm not any worse off than I was this morning," said Dawn. "Although if you hadn't come along I probably would have broken a couple of my ribs trying to get away from him."

"What do you-"

"Mr. Allen, Miss Summers, Mr. Manson, what on Earth happened?"

Oh, crud. Mr. Lorenson again.

* * *

Dawn sighed. "This place is getting far too familiar." 

She was sitting next to Bart on the uncomfortable wooden bench. Jeff and his parents were just outside the main office, arguing.

"Yup," said Bart. "Don't worry about it. I'm the one who hit him. You won't get into any trouble at all. If he tries anything with you again-"

"I'll deal with it myself," interrupted Dawn. "If I wasn't injured from yesterday I would have kicked his ass."

"Injured from yesterday? " hissed Bart, trying not to be overheard.

"Really long story," said Dawn. "Had a vision, stopped the apocalypse, came home in one piece... mostly. Relatively normal day for me."

"Stopping an apocalypse is a normal day for you?"

"Pretty much," shrugged Dawn. "It was only a couple Ir'ta demons trying to bring their 'god' to this plane of existence. And by the way, it's only a sprained ankle and a couple cracked ribs. I just didn't want to chance breaking any of my ribs."

"Why didn't you call me?" asked Bart, sounding slightly hurt.

Dawn looked down. "It's my job, not your's. You stop Super Villains, I stop evil magic users and demons. And anyway, you were with your friends. I couldn't take you away from that. Oh, and of course I don't have the phone number for Titans Tower."

"Oh. As soon as we get out of here, I'll give you the number," said Bart, sounding much less dejected. "Um... if I can still go after we see the principle, wouldyougototheWinterFormalwithme?"

"I-of course!" said Dawn. "I'd love to." Dawn leaned over carefully and gave Bart a kiss. "Did you mean what you said?"

"What did I say?" asked Bart, clearly confused.

"You called me your girlfriend."

"I-uh.. well you see," Bart had a rather adorable deer in the headlights look. "I guess if you want to be-butifyoudon'tIcompletelyunderstand."

Dawn kissed Bart again. She felt him slip his arms around her waist. As Bart slipped his tongue into her mouth. He pulled away just before Jay and Joan Garrick walked into the room.

Dawn leaned against Bart. Sitting sideways, her head in the crook of his neck. Bart had one arm around her back and waist, the other entangled in her long hair.

"Do I want to know what happened?" asked Jay.

"Jeff was being his usual neanderthal self," said Dawn.

Bart looked down guiltily. "I punched him in the stomach after I pulled him off Dawn."

Jay just sighed. "Your foster father is a lawyer, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I suggest you see about getting a restraining order against Mr. Manson."

That was when they noticed the principle standing in the doorway of his office. He had paled considerably.

"Miss Summers, all we need if for you to tell your side of the story. Since you weren't involved in the fight, there won't be any punishment." He motioned for them to come into the office. "Your foster mother is running late, she said to start without her."

Bart gently moved Dawn off his lap. They walked into Mr. Smith's office hand in hand. They grabbed the couch, Dawn sitting so close to Bart that she was nearly on his lap.

After a moment Jeff and his parents walked into Mr. Smith's office. They took the seats as far away from Dawn and Bart as possible. Dawn began to chew on her lip when Jeff glared at Bart. She really didn't like Jeff. He was a demented combination of Justin and RJ, two of her former boyfriends.


	13. Of Teammates and Suspisions Part 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, any of the DC Comics titles or any of the Marvel titles either. I in no way shape or form make any profit off of this 

Spoilers: Season 7 Buffy, up to (And maybe including, haven't decided yet) Infinite Crisis in DC, and mid-to late ninties issues of various X-Men, X-Force, that sort of thing. I'm sorry, but current Marvel really sucks.

Rating: T/pg-13 (for the moment)

Pairings: Dawn/Bart Allen (Kid Flash), mentions of Robin/Batgirl, Wondegirl/Superboy, maybe Connor(Angel's son)/Greta or Connor/Cissie

Summary: During the fight against the First, Dawn falls through a potal which sends her to an alternate dimension. Unable to return home, Dawn makes a new life for herself, only there's a couple problems: her new boyfriend is anything but normal, and how exactly is she related to the Summers family anyway?

Chapter 12

Dawn walked into the apartment, a frown marring her face. Mrs. Bernstein followed close behind.

"At least the Mansons agreed not to file charges against that boyfriend of yours in exchange for you not getting a restraining order against that horrid boy."

"Yeah," said Dawn.

"What's wrong, honey?" asked Mrs. Bernstein.

"It's just that if Jeff hadn't, well, you know, Bart never would have asked me to be his girlfriend," explained Dawn. "Well, he might have... ok, he probably would have asked me to be his girlfriend, but not so soon. It just annoys me that I'm Bart's girlfriend right now only because he didn't want some other man near his woman and felt the need to lay claim to me. On an unconscious level at least."

"Dawn, that boy likes you. A lot," said Mrs. Bernstein. "The thing is, men are afraid of anything remotely resembling commitment in any way shape or form. Sure it took the idea that another man would hurt you or take you away from him to make Bart realize how important you are to him, but all that did was save you and him a lot of angst and dancing around the subject."

"I guess you're right," said Dawn, feeling slightly better. "Oh goddess. What am I going to wear to the party?"

"Party?" asked Mrs. Bernstein. "I thought Bart wasn't allowed to go to the Formal."

"He's not," said Dawn. "He invited me to the Holiday party he and his friends are going to. Apparently there are going to be about a hundred people there. It's a black tie event. Dinner, dancing, that sort of thing."

"You'll need an evening gown..."

Dawn's eye's lit up. Apparently her monk implanted memories were good for something. "Do you have a sewing machine? And is there a fabric store nearby? I already have a pattern in mind."

* * *

Bart really wasn't bothered by the whole Champion thing. In the thirtieth Century, Champions were pretty well known and accepted by the Superhero community. Admittedly, the public had no idea they existed most of the time, but that was to be expected. Champions really didn't like to have a lot of attention.

Yeah, there was the whole killing thing. But he had worked with people who had occasionally killed before. He had no desire to kill, however he understood why killing was needed sometimes.

He looked down at Dawn, who was snuggled against him. She had drifted off watching a movie with him. She had decided to be with him rather than go to the Winter Formal.

The Bernsteins had to go on some sort of business trip. Matthew and Dawn were staying with Bart and the Garricks for the weekend. He was pretty sure that the Bernsteins had only left Dawn and Matthew here because Jay used to work with the police. Matthew had been put to bed about two or three hours earlier.

He was rather happy with Dawn. She was perfectly fine with him having to run off to rescue people. She didn't care that he spent most of his weekends with his teammates. Then again, she was usually making sure that her visions didn't come true when she wasn't with him.

Dating somebody in the same line of work... sort of, had some real advantages.

* * *

Dawn chopped the vegetables quickly, she was helping Joan Garrick cook. There was some sort of family get together in a couple hours. Bart's grandmother, his cousin Wally and family, and some person called Jesse were coming by. Dawn couldn't help but worry.

Meeting Bart's family was a very big thing. She was pretty sure that if she and Matthew hadn't been staying for the weekend to begin with, that she wouldn't have been invited.

* * *

Bart looked up as Wally, Linda and the twins came into the living room. He and Wally hadn't really spoken since the whole incident with Captain Cold and Captain Boomerang.

"Hi Wally," said Bart.

"Hi, Bart," said Wally. "We need to talk about-"

"Dawn's in the kitchen helping Aunt Joan make dinner," said Bart, unwilling to reveal Dawn's powers to his cousin.

"Who's Dawn?" asked Linda.

"My girlfriend," said Bart. "She's here for the weekend."

"Girlfriend? Since when do you have a girlfriend?" Wally seemed surprised that Bart could actually find a girl, let along keep her long enough for her to fall under the category of girlfriend.

Bart would have said something, but at that moment Dawn walked out of the kitchen. In her arms was a tray with a pitcher of ice tea and several cups.

He was surprised at how demure her clothing was. She wore an ankle length wool skirt, a sweater and soft leather boots. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a braid.

"Oh, um... hello," said Dawn. "Ice tea, anyone?"

* * *

Dawn sat as close to Bart as possible without sitting in his lap. Wally frightened her. She couldn't explain it, but she knew that Wally was suspicious of her.

Something inside Dawn knew that this was not a battle worth fighting. Knew that it would be better to remain as close to Bart, the one person who would deflect Wally's questions, as possible.

Linda seemed really nice and the twins were adorable, Matthew was playing with them. Jesse was, really busy was the only word to describe her. She was constantly on the cell phone. Bart's Grandmother, Iris was... well Iris hadn't really spoken much more than to greet people. She seemed to be waiting to see what would happen.

"So, Dawn," said Iris. "How did you and Bart meet?"

"He's my math tutor," explained Dawn.

"Mmm," said Iris. "So, what do you plan to do after high school?"

Dawn bit her lip. "I just sent in my application to University of Kansas, Keystone City. I plan to double major in Anthropology and Linguistics. They have really good departments there. After that I guess I'll get my masters."

"Really? Why anthropology?"

"I've always been interested in learning about other cultures."

* * *

"I don't see why you have a problem with Dawn," Iris said to Wally. Dawn and Bart were in the kitchen doing... well Wally was pretty sure they were making out.

"Whatever that girl is, she's not a normal human," said Wally.

"No, she's not," said Jay. "However Bart vouched for her. He promised to take her out himself if she turned out to be evil. And anyway Dawn is really a very nice girl."

* * *

"Anthropology?"

Dawn looked up from where she was slicing up the brownies she had made. She looked away.

"Every once in a while, there are tales of Anthropologists who don't come back. Anthropologists who become so enamored with the culture they were studying that they never come back," Dawn paused. "Before I became human, I had been in so many different places, different dimensions. Chances are that I will never return to my people. At least not of my own free will."


End file.
